Tournament players change continents

The poker world is done for now on one continent and immediately hops over to another one. Mervin Chan was the big winner in the 2013 Aussie Millions Main Event for a nice AU$1.6 million payout after knocking out popular (and fan girl favorite) Patrik Antonius in 3rd place. The field was down a bit from last year but that might have been due to the NHUPC and the smaller buy-in, much closer WSOP-C in Tunica.

While the Aussie Million Main Event attendance was down, the Tunica WSOP-C event drew a devilish 666 players for an uptick from last year. Ryan Stevenson dominated the final table by taking out every player from 6th place on down to win the title, collect over $200,000, and a seat in the National Championship.

The WSOP Circuit isn’t taking any time off as their next series is already underway in South Africa. It will be interesting to see what big names make the trip after spending a few weeks Down Under. The African circuit event will also have to compete with the popular EPT Deauville Main Event which drew 782 players.

Link Dump

Tweet of the Day – Poor poor Matty, always the victim. Except for win he’s set his phasers to blast and off his meds.

People talk about me, make songs about me, + form false opinions about me, b/c I actually matter to them, and you don’t. The truth hurts!

Nuts: Hot start to ’13 for Selbst, Seiver – ESPN’s Andrew Feldman back with his monthly look at the top players in the game with some of your favorite poker beat writers. I’m a little surprised to see Hellmuth down in the #2 spot but Selbst is also worthy.

The WTO Loads Antigua’s Slingshot – Who knew this little battle was still going on between the U.S. and Antigua. The WTO ruled in Antigua’s favor and now the little Caribbean island is looking to make big noise.

Trains run on time, Italians break the bank, French people at Wembley, Zynga & co. under analysis, Playtech's nepotism, and PokerStars serve an ace.

We are in the midst of the World Series of Poker, which makes it silly season for gambling news from the rest of the world. Expect next week’s column to feature a giraffe that won a razz tournament and Epic Poker’s zeppelin-based relaunch. Right now you’ll have to settle for stories about trains, Italians, and reality TV.

Run on Time

Let’s start with the trains. Australian website Sportsbet.au.com have been politely asked by Melbourne locomotion provider, Metro Trains, to stop taking bets on whether their services will run on time. There were fears that enterprising degenerates might take it upon themselves to sabotage the lines in order to guarantee a payout. [The Age]

Italian Stallion

This story, while fairly ludicrous, raises some interesting moral questions. Bruno Venturi, an everyday Italian man who works in a pet shop, is fighting to claim a £650,000 jackpot he won from Eurobet. They are refusing to cough up the cash on the grounds that a software error caused Venturi to pay for only one in every six bets. The dispute began in 2009 and has now made it all the way up the chain to Britain’s High Court. [Telegraph]

Reality TV Sparks British Dust-Up

This could have been a nice story about a young poker player raising his profile in the media by doing a good deed, but Andrew Feldman’s upcoming appearance on the UK reality show Secret Millionaire has devolved into scandal. Last month British pro Sam Trickett claimed he would out a fellow player who had “stolen” a large amount of his cash. Since then he’s remained silent, but it seems that Feldman’s pending TV fame has sparked Trickett and co. to more or less publicly accuse Andrew of borrowing €25,000 from Trickett, then refusing to pay him back on the grounds that he is quitting poker. [Poker News]

Tapie’s Wembley Tourney

He might have lost the race to buy Full Tilt Poker, but Frenchman Bernard Tapie has not lost his ambition. This week he announced the first venue for the International Stadiums Poker Tour, a series of events which will cram 30,000 poker players into the world’s largest sporting arenas. The series kicks off at Wembley Stadium – the more or less sacred home of English football – during May 2013. For the first two days 30,000 players will sit in the stands and compete online, from which 3,000 will win their way onto the turf to play in a €4,500 buy-in tournament with a guarantee of €2 million. [ISPT]

Social Gaming Under Scrutiny

Over the past couple of years Zynga have slowly edged their way onto the poker radar thanks to their immensely popular Facebook version of Texas Hold’em. They also managed to avoided any kind of legislation by pointing at the tables and shouting, “look, no money!” The UK Gambling Commission aren’t so sure, however. Zynga make their (not inconsiderable) profits from users who purchase extra stacks of worthless chips with real cash. The Commission are now working on a investigation into social gambling in an attempt to discover if the industry needs to be licensed and regulated. [Online Casino Archives]

Playtech’s Unsettling Dealings

Playtech have long been the kings of third party gambling software, but their financial antics are making people with briefcases and stock portfolios very nervous. The company have purchased a large bundle of stuff from their largest shareholder, Teddy Sagi – the company’s founder and owner of 48pc of Playtech stock. His new venture, Skywind, have sealed a €6 million deal with Playtech, who are also renting a London office from their former chief at £750,000 per year. [Telegraph]

Nadal Joins PokerStars

Stop the presses! While nobody was looking, some real news has snuck in at the back door. Tennis superstar Rafael Nadal has joined Team PokerStars. Undoubtedly one of the greatest players ever to hit a furry ball over a net, Nadal will represent Stars in the freshly minted Spanish market. I can’t recall a bigger sports star than Nadal being paid to represent poker in any capacity. Certainly not one with such worldwide pull. [PokerStars]

Well that was quite a shock. What’s more we’re only three days away from the start of Wimbledon. The centre-piece of professional tennis and the pride of upper-middle class British people who like things that happen on lawns. What with Rafa, some positive news out of Nevada, and Ivey’s return at the WSOP, I dare say that things are looking quite positive for poker. I think I need to lie down.

Host Amy Zupko and Jennifer Shahade are joined by Donna Houle to start off this weeks show. Donna is one of the founders of the Pink Ladies Poker Tour. They then move on to discuss the Womenâ€™s Poker League on PokerStars before briefly discussing the PCA womenâ€™s event. If you want to keep up with some women in poker or ladies only events then check this podcast out. You can listen to the show on WomanPokerPlayer.com or download it directly on iTunes to listen on your iPod later.

Wicked Chops:

With no This Week In Poker this week the entities come together for a TWIP style podcast this week. Just like with TWIP Jess Welman comes on to do “Poker Headlines” before getting into the feature of the show. That feature this week is Erik Siedel who comes on to discuss his recent success, his appearance on “The Micros”, and Rounders 2. Listen to the show on the Wicked Chops site or download it on iTunes.

The Poker Edge:

Eric Siedel is making his rounds this week joining Phil Gordon on The Poker Edge. Before Siedel makes his appearance Andrew Feldman gives this weeks headlines, he is followed by Matt Savage who comes on to discuss the LA Poker Classic and the future of poker. Siedel comes on to close out the show to discuss the high roller cashes that he has enjoyed since the first of the year. The guys finish off the show by handicapping most of the top players chances at winning a WSOP bracelet in 2011. You can listen to the entire podcast on ESPN.com, or download it directly via iTunes.

SN”Omg”addon was one of the many reasons that resulted in last weeks roundup to not get posted, the other main reason was that I left my laptop and was unable put things together. My apologies if you have been sitting here all week waiting on my recommendations in complete silence, hopefully this weeks selections will make up for that awkward silence.

The Poker Edge:

Fresh off his trip to the Bahamas for the PokerStar Caribbean Adventure Andrew Feldman and Phil Gordon join forces to discuss the biggest hand of heads-up play from the PCA Main Event. Jeffrey Pollack and Annie Duke join the podcast to discuss the details of their new poker league. You can listen to the entire podcast on ESPN.com, or download it directly via iTunes.

The Poker Room Radio Show:

Want to know what is going on in the Florida poker scene? These guys from the Jax Poker Room bring you the latest happenings in Florida along with some other discussion. This week the guys discuss the upcoming Chad Brown NLHE Championship and the tourneys leading up to the Main Event. They close out the show discussing table pet peeves, one of which is eating at the table. You can catch this weeks show online at The Poker Room Radio Show site.

Gambling Tales Podcast Show:

This is a fairly new podcast out there that has a no frills approach. They get right to the subject on hand without all the normal banter and poker news that can be found on most other podcast. This week “Short-Stacked Shamus” joins the host to discuss the the novel King of a Small World by Rick Bennet. Shamus reads a passage from the book followed by the crew having a short discussion. If you are looking for a short podcast to get you from home to work this would be a great addition. You can either listen to the show on the Gambling Tells Podcast site or download it directly from iTunes.

With no TWIP this week the entities over at Wicked Chops come together to discuss all things that are not the Reid Bill. Possible Rounders 2 story-lines were discussed followed by Chops admitting to trying to pick up the ladies years ago by impersonating Ben Folds (judge on The Sing-Off). After a lengthy discussion on their love of American Idol they move onto The Walking Dead. Listen to the show on the Wicked Chops site or download it on iTunes.

The Poker Edge:

Phil Gordon and Andrew Feldman break down the top stories of 2010 and take a look into 2011 after they discuss the possibility of Phil Helmuth on Dancing with the Stars. 2010 was the year of the Mizrachi’s will 2011 be the year of Durrr? You can listen to the entire podcast on ESPN.com, or download it directly via iTunes.

The Hardcore Poker Show:

The guys come together for their last show of the year and start off discussing the battle between Full Tilt and PokerStars on High Stakes Poker. After a brief discussion on Rounders 2 Pokerati’s own Scarlet_LV comes on to discuss the Reid bill and where thing with poker legislation go from here. Fresh off his final table at APPT Sydney Daniel Negreanu joins the show discussing the High Stakes Poker feud. You can listen weekly on Sirius Satellite Radio channel 98 every Wednesday from 8-9pm ET or you can download it via iTunes.

The Micros – Holiday Special:

Following up on the Pilot episode The Micros come with their Holiday Special with a special cameo from Erik Seidel.

The World Series of Poker starts on Friday, and the poker media (except for www.wsop.com) are getting ready with their various previews and other stuff to get their readers into the mood for six weeks of tournament action. Part of that is the fifth annual WSOP fantasy draft over at ESPN.com. Unfortunately, Pokerati’s own Dan Michalski apparently missed the conference call (he had the #1 pick) so here were the twelve participants in this year’s draft:

So little gets me excited about poker these days … unless, of course, it includes Pot-Limit Omaha or somebody getting sued/arrested. (C’mon HSP, can we just get one episode of PLO? Just to hear Gabe Kaplan talking about it. Promise not to sue you if you use this idea.)

But I stumbled across this last night — a game I read about on the internet back when it was being recorded (I believe in September). It’s just a regular-ole episode (Season 4 Ep. 3). But still much more exciting on video than anything I read about online, and way better than the Poker Stars Million-Dollar Challenge, not to mention Face the Ace:

ESPN.com’s Andrew Feldman and Bernard Lee co-host the last Inside Deal episode of the year, discussing the news in the poker world over the past few weeks and a visit from 2009 World Champion Joe Cada. The good news is the web series will continue in 2010.

Another in a long line of poker related songs comes from Phil Bellante who’s hoping to parlay his appearing on ESPN.com’s Poker Edge podcast with Phil Gordon and Andrew Feldman into a few sales of his song “All In”. Here’s Phil performing his song live at the Adams Avenue Street Fair in San Diego back in September:

You can get more info on a website dedicated to the song as it appears it’ll be getting exposure on other poker programming in the coming months.

Besides Kevin Schaffel, Mike Sexton discusses his being inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame, the latest poker news, previews of tonight’s WSOP episodes (the first half of day 8 coverage) and Phil Ivey’s ESPN: The Magazine cover appearance.